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Detritus Worms

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Today while checking on my Ropefish i noticed hundreds of tiny white worms crawling over the fake plant/rock decor. Noticing they were mainly on the decor I grabbed a hot bucket of water and soaked the decor and rinsed over and over (still havn't placed it all back). Did a 75% water change and got up as much as I could from the bottom. I did not have time or supplies to clean out my filter as I was getting ready for work when i noticed this issue. Thinking they may also be in the filter media I havn't turned on the filter till i can clean and replace the media in the A.m. tomorrow (ropefish are somewhat brackish fish so I am sure one Night wont hurt with out the filter). After some research I believe they are Detritus Worms which arn't harmful but can take away the oxygen levels. My plan is to 1. Clean out the filter w de-chlorenated tap water and replace sponges and floss. 2. Do 20% water change with vacuuming bottom everyday this week 3. Not feed fish for a few days. Anything else anyone would recommend? I know the goal is to reduce the #'s as much as possible with out stressing my fish and that low #'s of them can be good for the tank as the help decompose matter. Also my search seems to tell me that they arn't harmful to humans nor are anything else that it may be misidentified as? Thanks for any advise!

You are on the right track except you need to turn that filter back on. You not only need it for filtration, unless you have an air bubbler running you need the filter for surface agitation which provides dissolved oxygen in the water. You are correct in the worms are not harmful. I am surprised your fish aren't eating them. From now on feed less and clean the substrate more and the worms shouldn't over populate the tank again.

When I go fishing I just throw sharp rocks in the water and wait for the dead fish to float to the top... KingfisherEverything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is you are stupid and make bad decisions. I think my fish is adjusting well to the four gallon, He's laying on his side attempting to go to sleep on the bottom of the gravel.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Dear naps, sorry I hated you so much when I was a child... Love me

I would also suggest looking into what could have caused this so you don;t have to go through this again. Is it possible that you have been over feeding your fish or maybe not cleaning the substrate enough ? How much water do you typically change each week as a part of your maintenance routine ?

You plan to clean them out sounds good, I would suggest to leave your filter running to aviod any build up of any toxins that your bacteria in the filter would normally take care of.

Edit, Ninja'd by Mommy1

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

When I go fishing I just throw sharp rocks in the water and wait for the dead fish to float to the top... KingfisherEverything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is you are stupid and make bad decisions. I think my fish is adjusting well to the four gallon, He's laying on his side attempting to go to sleep on the bottom of the gravel.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Dear naps, sorry I hated you so much when I was a child... Love me

The filter was off just for the night after 75% change of 65g tank to isolate any more worms and i do have a air pump that is always running. I recently gave up my Koi for adoption as I wanted him to live happily in a large pond as his bio-load was to much for the tank (was doing 60% change every week to keep up with him).

So apparently my ropey wasn't eating all its cubed frozen blood worms portion since the koi's departure. I will look for a smaller portion I can give him instead. Would anyone recommend feeder guppies as he could manage his own diet while they swim around and possibly eat any worms instead of having uneaten food decaying? If so whats a manageable # of feeder guppies for a 65g tank with 1 Ropefish?

Now that the koi is gone I am hoping now i can work with a 20% change every week once I have this worm issue under management and So far so good! they are where they should be at least under the stones not crawling all over. And it appears that the vacuum picked up most of the remaining. Will the UV filter light kill any that are floating around from the water change? In about a week or two (when i feel comfortable after the worms dissipate) I am adding new smaller gravel and going to start using real plants to help create a happier and healthier ecosystem which was the plan after having my koi rescued for adoption. Thanks!